Yes, but we are not in the UK, with its' laws about common rights-of-way and "time immemorial" statutes. We are in South Africa where private land is private land and the owner has a right to control access to it, we do not have a heritage of unfettered access to private land because some special interest group wants it to be so (and yes, we climbers are a special interest group and a tiny one at that).
If, for instance, there was an attraction in your garden and people insisted on visiting it violating your right to privacy, claiming that they have a "right to be there", would you be happy with that? How is that attraction different to a mountain/crag on a farm? What constitutes the difference between them? Is it because farms are bigger than your garden, is that what makes them different? Who decides where the difference lies? Is that land owners right to privacy worth less than your desire to climb at his crag? Who decides which activities are worthy of such access?
The fact of the matter is we have
constitutionally guaranteed rights to privacy and property while access is at the discretion of the owner. That will not change short of an amendment to the constitution.
I appreciate that I am being the Devil's Advocate here, perhaps my view is coloured by my own experiences. I live on a small holding which shares a boundary with a nature reserve on which there is excellent mountain biking, hiking and other outdoor activities. The gate fee is nominal (~R25/day or R200/year) and free if you have a Wild Card and yet virtually every single day people cross our property, ignoring no trespassing signs, climb fences (often damaging them) and destroy vegetation in order to avoid paying these small fees (all of them carrying on their person items far exceeding the gate fees in value). I have been verbally abused and threats of physical violence have been made against me on occasion when I have informed people that they are trespassing and must leave our property.
I appreciate that this bad behaviour represents the minority of users but it does colour my perception of the entire group. A further factor is that farm murder rates are four times higher than the national average, yet another incentive for land owners to deny access.
If you wish to gain access to mountain areas then support the MCSA. It alone has the standing and finances to negotiate access agreements and purchase land. It's position as a major land owner in South Africa gives it a strong bargaining position and creates better understandings with land owners.
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